Bullet train vote: Explanations from local supporters

Five members of the San Diego County delegation to the California Legislature – all Democrats from San Diego – voted to commit the state to spending billions in state and federal dollars on the first segment of a statewide high-speed rail system in the Central Valley. We asked the members to respond to three questions about their decision. Sen. Christine Kehoe and Assembly members Marty Block and Ben Hueso did so. Assemblywoman Toni Atkins sent in a general statement on the project, which appears after the Kehoe, Block and Hueso responses. Sen. Juan Vargas’ staff said he was unavailable.

Q: Do you believe it was a risky decision to commit the state to spend billions of dollars on a high-speed rail system with no identified source of future funds for 80 percent of the project?

Kehoe: Infrastructure projects of this size and scope are not usually fully paid for upfront. The construction of the California aqueduct, the UC system and our interstate highways are all examples of major infrastructure projects that were built over decades with ongoing financing. Providing financing in stages is not unusual and I believe that as the construction progresses, California will receive additional federal funding.

USC projects that by 2046, California will have 50 million residents. Without high-speed rail, we will have difficulty affording and physically accommodating the 3,000 new lane miles of highways, the five additional airport runways and the 91 new airport gates that will be needed to meet the transportation demands of that many Californians.

Both California, which will see tens of thousands of new jobs, and San Diego, which will receive an immediate $100 million for transit-related projects in our region, will benefit from the passage of this bill. Improvements to the trolley, and track rehabilitation, grade-crossing improvements and new signals for Amtrak and the Coaster corridors will be made because of this legislation.

Block: This bond package translates to the creation of 450,000 jobs statewide and does not involve any state general fund money in paying back the bond indebtedness. One immediate impact to the San Diego region is an investment of $58 million in bond funds (with the possibility of leveraging another $94 million in federal, state and local dollars) on local projects and jobs we can start now – improving the blue line light rail and upgrading trolley and Coaster crossings and the track near downtown. All these projects are aimed at increasing use of public transportation.

There’s no question that taking the first step on high-speed rail is taking a risk – just as every major endeavor has taken exactly the same risk. In California’s history we’ve never had all the money in the bank when we’ve approved great infrastructure ideas. We took a risk building the California Aqueduct to deliver water to San Diego. We took that risk building our interstate highway system and modern airport facilities. Many doubted we could build the Golden Gate Bridge. We took that risk when we invested in stem cell research.